


12:00 AM

by ordinarymagic



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, New Years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 07:25:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9168202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ordinarymagic/pseuds/ordinarymagic
Summary: “A whole year.”“Huh?”“Since we’ve been together.”





	

11:51 PM

Benjamin felt a hand brush against his waist and he blinked away from his phone’s screen to look up at a figure shadowed by the lights emanating from the living room. From within the volume of a television broadcast was raised and sound of conversations rose to overcome it. “Almost time?” the man asked in a hushed voice.

“About ten minutes,” Benji confirmed with a smile. He touched the other’s hand with own before it slipped away to help set the drinks for their guests. The man wondered if anyone had noticed Mr. James’ absence—if they did, it did not seem James himself paid mind. He was never social with the other teachers anyway, even after the numerous get-togethers Benji had arranged.

“Why are you asking?” The Kapur’s smile grew sharp and he gave James a nudge with his hip. “Getting tired, old man?”

The man snorted at his words and did not look up as he poured the drink into small glasses. “No. Is it getting past your bed time?” he asked evenly in return, his tone barely suggesting that he was not being as serious as he usually was. Sometimes it was hard to tell when the older man was joking, but Benji knew. They’ve known each other for over a year now, after all.

He gave a mock gasp of indignation and gave a “well, I never” before he picked up the tray of drinks, taking care to balance the cups even. “Keep talking like that and when I do go to bed, _you’ll_ be sleeping on the couch.”

James lifted his own tray and looked to Benjamin and pursed his mouth at him, though the ghost of a smile danced at the edges of his lips. “You’d make an old man sleep on the couch while you sleep in the bed _he_ bought? How childish.”

Benji rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at him, laughing as he turned to face at living room and stepped into the party. Fellow teachers and administrators cooed in appreciation as they noticed the drinks and thanked Kapur as they grabbed a glass. Somewhere in the room the television blared that there was five minutes left on the clock.

When there was one cup left, the history teacher grabbed it for himself and placed the tray on an empty table and stood at the outskirts of crowd that congregated in one spot. Before long James joined him with a glass of his own in hand.

“It’s kinda dumb that they don’t allow fireworks in town,” Benji remarked as he craned his head around to try to catch a glimpse of the broadcast between bodies that would not stop moving. The conversations around them had grown with excitement and everyone huddled closer around the television.

“It’s for the best. Would you trust someone like Ward with anything explosive?” Benji snorted at James’ words and moved to cover his mouth. Thank God he wasn’t drinking when he made that remark, he thought to himself and stifled his laughter.

“Uh, yeah, sure, but Saul’s just a kid. Or are you still upset about _that_ incident?” James frowned and looked down at his glass as he stirred around its contents. He was suddenly more interested in the drink than the conversation at hand. “Lab equipment is expensive,” he explained himself, almost defensive at the suggestion that he held a grudge against a student. That was too _childish_ for Mr. James.

Kapur only hummed in response and opened his mouth to tease him more before a chorus began to rise around them.

“…59, 58, 57!”

“A whole year.”

“Huh?”

Benji looked at James as he watched the television. He easily towered over the co-workers that they amassed for the party while the history teacher was stuck on the ground. He did not look away from the broadcast as the countdown continued.

“Since we’ve been together. If you count the day after Christmas. Do you?”

Benji blanched and felt a keen but brief shyness grip him. No one was paying attention to the pair, all eyes and ears on the broadcast in front of them, but the suddenness of the conversation caught him by surprise. “Well—I mean, I guess. But I didn’t know that you—we could’ve done something after Christmas, or—“

James waved a hand to dismiss the man’s worry. “It’s alright. We never did discuss our anniversary date.”

 _Anniversary_. Benji had never gave it much thought—there was no doubt between them that they were together, but the process had been untraditional. Neither had asked the other out and because of that, there wasn’t a day to celebration such an event.

“…9, 8, 7!”

“There’s always next year, after all.”

The suggestion—the promise, with conviction weighing heavy—that there will be a next year made Benji’s face blush but before he could react, his lips were occupied. The kiss was quick, and a quiet voice told him, “Happy New Years, baby.” A second later, the room exploded with cheer as the television roared and flashing colors danced around the room from the screen.

Outside the window, a firework illuminated the sky in the distance.

**Author's Note:**

> My first uploaded work on AO3! It's not a lot and it's not my best writing ever (not to mention the loads of meta no one will understand, haha) but! Everything's gotta start somewhere.
> 
> This is a short story I wrote for a friend (who owns Benji as a character) since it's been a while since I visited our teachers and what's a better way to kick off the new year by writing about a New Years party? Happy 2017!


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